Curable compositions are compositions that include thermosettable monomers that can be crosslinked. Crosslinking, also referred to as curing, converts the curable compositions into crosslinked polymers (i.e., a cured product) useful in various fields such as, for example, in the field of composites, electrical laminates and coatings. Some properties of curable compositions and crosslinked polymers that can be considered for particular applications include mechanical properties, thermal properties, electrical properties, optical properties, processing properties, among other physical properties.
For example, glass transition temperature, dielectric constant and dissipation factor can be properties that are considered as highly relevant for curable compositions used for electrical laminates. For example, having a sufficiently high glass transition temperature for an electrical laminate can be very important in allowing the electrical laminate to be effectively used in high temperature environments. Similarly, decreasing the dielectric constant and dissipation factor of the electrical laminate can assist in separating a current carrying area from other areas.
To achieve desirable changes in glass transition temperature (Tg), dielectric constant (Dk) and dissipation factor (Df), previous approaches have added various materials to curable compositions. For example, materials have been added to the curable composition to decrease the dielectric constant and dissipation factor. While adding these materials to the curable composition may decrease the dielectric constant and dissipation factor, which is desirable, these materials can also adversely alter other properties such as decreasing the glass transition temperature, which is undesirable. Therefore, additional materials are added to increase the glass transition temperature. For example, previous approaches have added poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) (SMA) to decrease the Dk and Df. However, this results in less than ideal Df and Tg values, and consequently other materials are needed to further decrease Df and increase Tg. Examples of these materials include cyanates. However, cyanates can be expensive and increase the cost of production for electrical laminates. Therefore, an affordable electrical laminate with desirable thermal properties and electrical properties would be beneficial.